General Information

The Roe deer is one of two deer species native to the UK, the other is the Red Deer - all other deer species have been introduced.

Feeding in the twilight hours on grass, shoots, leaves and berries, roe deer are unlikely to stray into a field that has livestock as it considers the grass is unclean for it’s consumption.

Roe deer can have up to 3 kids in May or June after a 9 months pregnancy which includes 4 months of no foetal growth followed by 5 months foetal growth i.e. delayed implantation.

Fun Fact

Roe deer almost always give birth to twins, this is unusual for a deer species, and therefore their babies are called ‘kids’ not fawns or calves.

Keeper Notes

In the Deer Encounter we have three wild rescue roe deer. They are all does - Bracken, Bryony and Tizzy, who arrived in 2011 and 2012. They had been taken into local veterinary practices by members of the public as very young ‘kids’and brought to us for care and a permanent, safe home.